The lump of clay, from the moment it comes under the transforming hand of the potter, is, during each day and each hour of the process, just what the potter wants it to be at that hour or on that day, and therefore pleases him. But it is very far from being matured into the vessel he intends in the future to make it.

Hannah Whitall Smith was born this date, 2/7/1832, at Philadelphia, PA. She was a daughter of well-to-do Quaker parents. After she married Robert Piersall Smith they converted to the group called Plymouth Brethren. They were said to have a “new experience” (1867) and began a speaking tour of the United States and Europe. Their “Higher Christian Life” meetings in England were popular. In 1875 she published, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life a book which has been printed in several languages.